White Room

About the White Room

The White Room provides current information relating to new technologies for energy efficiency. Stay connected with the latest news, events, and scientific breakthroughs in this fast moving sector. Use our filters on the left or click here to send a suggestion for content to add.

From 1978 to 2005, energy use in homes has remained essentially constant. There have been incredible energy efficiency improvements, but that has been offset by bigger homes and more stuff that needs to be plugged in.

Researchers at Harvard University and University of Toronto have developed leaf-like sheets that can be applied to existing windows to increase a building's thermal regulation and decrease building temperature.

LG says its "Energy Star Most Efficient" sales have increased by 75%. According to the EPA, these purchases will save consumers more than $150 million in utility costs and reduce GHG by about 930 million pounds over the lifetime of these products.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area opened a new net-zero visitor center -- the first of its kind. The building is equipped with LED lighting and solar panels. The article also includes other LED news.

Martin Fischer, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University and Director of the Center for Integrated Facility Engineering (CIFE), discusses the importance of establishing value based metrics and best practices for accurate evaluation of building performance.